Washington (CNN) – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has been dogged by Republican questions about her health and age as she mulls a run at the presidency in 2016, told ABC in an interview on Friday that her health is "very good."

Clinton added that she had "no lingering effects" from a late-2012 health scare in which she suffered a blood clot as the result of a fall. Karl Rove, the well-known Republican strategist, questioned whether Clinton was healthy enough to run for president, something the former first lady is admittedly considering.

(CNN) - Paul Begala, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and now a CNN contributor, wrote a draft of Clinton’s farewell speech, but said in a memo to the President that he didn’t include any mention of his wife, Hillary Clinton, and suggested Clinton himself should write that portion of the speech.

"The only thing I did not take a crack at is a nod to Senator-Elect Clinton. That has to come from your pen,” he wrote in the memo dated January 2, 2000.

CNN’s POLITICAL GUT CHECK | for June 6, 2014 | 5 p.m.
— n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

D-DAY: OBAMA, PUTIN MEET IN FRANCE ... A much anticipated encounter between President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, came on the sidelines of a lunch held Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day ... During their informal aside, Obama told Putin that to reduce tensions in Ukraine, Russia must recognize Poroshenko as the country's legitimate leader and stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine. Obama also told Putin that Russia must stop the flow of weapons across the border into Ukraine, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said ... The talk lasted 10 to 15 minutes. – Laura Smith-Spark and Ray Sanchez

(CNN) - New York City's progressive mayor wants Brooklyn to anchor his city's bid to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

In a letter to the Democratic National Committee, Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote that the two-year-old Barclays Center, home to the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, would serve as the principal venue site for the city's convention bid, with other events and accommodations spread across Brooklyn, Manhattan and New York's three other boroughs.

(CNN) – A fifth batch of confidential memos, notes and other papers from the Clinton White House were released Friday by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

Collectively, the documents open a window into the Clinton years and cover a variety of topics, including the office of former first lady Hillary Clinton, who's now considered the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 if she decides to run.

Washington (CNN) – Top White House adviser John Podesta defended the administration on criticism about its decision to swap Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban prisoners, the proposal to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent and the mishandling of veterans health care.

"The President will make tough decisions," Podesta told a group of reporters Friday at a breakfast organized by the Christian Science Monitor.

Colleville-sur-Mer, France (CNN) – Defending President Barack Obama’s foreign policy as one of global leadership – rather than the passive stance his critics portray – National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Friday the United States was taking important steps in Syria by offering both "lethal and non-lethal" aid to the moderate opposition fighting a bloody civil war.

“The United States has been the single largest contributor of humanitarian assistance, providing over 1.7 billion dollars,” she said in an interview with CNN. “That's why the United States has ramped up its support for the moderate vetted opposition, providing lethal and nonlethal support where we can to support both the civilian opposition and the military opposition.”